The Impatient Chef Restaurant Review: Rivertap, The Dalles

Rivertap, The Dalles, Oregon

My notebook, and their bumper sticker

The second in my hopefully long-running series of Fish & Chips reviews will not start as the first one did.  I wore that joke out in the first paragraph (see the Baldwin Saloon review).  Instead, I will start this one by saying that I know Rivertap's secret to their unique batter flavor, BUT I'M NOT TELLING YOU.  Instead, I will say that if you live in the area, you must taste it for yourself.  

Why am I not revealing their secret?  First, I'm not certain that they would want me to.  Second, if you could do it yourself, what incentive would you have to stop in?  I will tell you that I figured it out, and the waitress confirmed it.  

As usual, I never review on my first visit.  I've been to Rivertap about 10 times over the last 3 years, and I've tasted a variety of their food, but I have never had the appetizer I ordered today.  Let me present to you... 

These 

Bacon-Wrapped Jalepeno Yukon Golds

These delightful bearers of ranch dressing and cardiovascular disease are put together exactly as they are named.  A wedge of Yukon Gold potato is very lightly breaded, and paired with a slice of jalepeno before being wrapped in bacon.  They are skewered, and then (I'm guessing) deep fried.  They get a light dusting cheese, and a decent ranch dressing.  If you were Odysseus, you would dash your ship to pieces on the rocks to get them.

Speaking of sea faring beings (see the segue, nice, eh?), we arrive at the main course, and the reason for writing this post.

I am a connoisseur of fine Fish & Chips.  If you have read my earlier fish and chips review, you will know that the batter should be crisp, the tarter sauce may not be too sweet, and the fries must stand up to the salt test.  The salt test is simply ketchup not being necessary.  We will hit these points in turn.

 Presentation

The platter arrives

The presentation was appealing.  I am fond of square and rectangular plates.  I'm also fond of not placing the fish on top pf the fries like some restaurants do.  Most fish batters wick a little fryer oil after being plated, and the top layer of fries arrive a tad too oily.  Rivertap's rectangular plates are perfect for the job of separating the fish from the fries.

The Fish

Golden and crisp

The batter was not flaky like I prefer.  In fact, it was a bit caky, which I usually don't like.  A slab of fish wrapped in a pancake is not appealing.  These were pleasantly tasty.  The halibut had flavor without being overpowering.  I like to actually taste the fish, by the way.  I don't want to taste the fryer oil, which was not a problem with these.  The tarter sauce was on the sweet side, but the lemon wedges handily cured that.

I mentioned a secret to the batter.  Well...

Here it is:

The secret is in the color

Note the yellow color of the batter above.   It's not corn flour.

I would rate Rivertap's Fish & Chips well above average.  On the Rose and Thistle scale, they are a 7 (Rose & Thistle is a Scottish restaurant on NE Broadway St. in Portland, and makes the Fish & Chips by which all others are measured).

Next comes...

The Fries!

Crisp and delicious

 The fries (chips) are immaculately conceived with light breading, and thereby swaddled in a crispy layer which blankets the potato.  These stayed crisp throughout the meal!  No ketchup necessary.

Lastly,

Rivertap's taps.

Rivertap IPA

I, sadly, no longer drink, so I have it on good authority (my wife, Gaia) that Rivertap's own house-brewed IPA was delectable.  I can tell you that it had a pleasantly hoppy nose.

Overall impressions.  This is one of the finest Fish and Chips experiences that I've had in a while.